THE EASIEST WAY TO STICK TO NEW HABITS
1. Commit to it! – It takes roughly 21 days to form a new habit. If you can commit to 3 – 4 weeks and get past the difficult ‘conditioning’ stage then you’ll be in a really good place as you’ll have forced your habit to become automatic and therefore much easier to sustain. Three to four weeks is all the time you need to make a habit automatic. I like to block out one month – so for example, if you want to start a new habit, start on the 1st of the month.
2. Be Consistent – Consistency is key if you want to ensure that you new habit actually sticks. If you want to exercise regularly then do it everyday for 30 days. Even if it’s as simple as running 5 minutes, then 10 and building it up over the 30 day period – you’ll be more likely to stick to it. Additionally to this, if you’re going to start exercising and want to do it regularly then do it at the same time of the day so you can get in to a routine. Exercising early in the morning means that it is done and out of the way.
3. Keep it simple to start with – Most people fail when forming new habits because they try to change everything in one go. Don’t try to completely change your life in one day. It is not realistic and will be a real drain on your will power. If you want to meditate for an hour each day, start with 5 minutes and build it up over time.
4. Check in with yourself – It is easy to forget ‘why’ you are trying to build new habits. Every two weeks check in with yourself, see if you’re on track. Place reminders around your home to act as a prompt. It will help you from forgetting what you’re trying to achieve.
5. Avoid getting bored – Try to fill the void left by your old routines. If you want to try and avoid watching tv in the evening then you need to get used to planning out how your evenings are going to be filled to ensure you don’t go back to staring at the box!
6. Be Imperfect – Understand that you are human and that humans are imperfect and that you would get it right all the time. We have lives and lives take over. That is normal. Don’t beat yourself up about it and don’t expect that you will be successful immediately. It’s taken me a long time to get to a point where I am a regular runner. Do your best but don’t berate yourself when it doesn’t go to plan. Just start again and do your best.
7. Try to get rid of temptation – If you want to eat a more healthier diet, it’s going to be hard to do that with cupboard full of junk food. Get rid of it all and start fresh.
8. Surround yourself with the right people – When you’re trying to create a new habit, spend time with people that exhibit the behaviours that you want to instil in your life. Spend more time with people who model the habits you want to mirror. You become what you spend time around.
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